Kiss of the Rose Princess is about a girl named Anise. Her father (not sure if abusive or just scary) gave her a choker and told her to always wear it for protection. But then she has an accident and the choker comes off. When that happens, she learns that she is the Rose Princess, and that she can kiss cards to summon and command four Rose Knights. And of course the Rose Knights happen to be hot boys from her high school class.

The artwork in Kiss of the Rose Princess is gorgeous. I particularly enjoy the rose-and-thorn motifs that are carried throughout the story.

The story, on the other hand, just isn’t grabbing me yet. I think a big part of it is that as an adult woman who likes manga, I’m more drawn to stories that aren’t set in high school, or where school is only one part of a much larger story. And right now, all we’ve got is high school.

Even though Kiss of the Rose Princess Vol. 1 didn’t draw me in that much, I continued reading the series, because I had bought 3 volumes, they are quick reads, and I was on vacation. Mike and I were camping, and it rained almost every day. When it rains and you are camping, the best thing to do is to read manga in the tent. It’s just cozy and relaxing.

Volume 2 is better than Volume 1. There’s some actual plot this time. Anise is still worried about her missing choker and her father finding out about it, so she sends her Rose Knights to try to look for it. And during that time, we get to learn a little bit more about each of them, and what makes them unique as people. The tone is a little weird though. Kiss of the Rose Princess doesn’t really know what it wants to be, so we go from heartfelt and depressing moments to light-and-funny-and-not-at-all serious moments, but there’s very little transition between the two.

Anise learns that in order to stop a Demon Lord that is escaping his confinement, the Blue Knight will end up being sacrificed. That is, unless she steps up to the plate and becomes a true Rose Princess, fully embracing her new abilities and her control of the Rose Knights. And since Anise is a good person and doesn’t want any of her new friends to be sacrificed, she is willing to do whateve is necessary to save everyone.

Volume 3 of Kiss of the Rose Princess is uneven in terms of plot. It starts off strong, with Anise needing to seal off an escaping Demon Lord. But then that scene ends and it’s back to high school. Anise’s dad is presumably a villain (maybe? not enough plot for us to really know…), and he comes to school posing as a teacher because he wants to find out what the Rose Knights’ abilities are. So it’s a comedic “hey guys, please be normal!” kind of deal. Unfortunately, the high school parts of the story are not my favorites. I want to see romance, plot, and Demon Lords, not gym class.

I think my problem with this series is that every time the plot seems to move, we’re back to high school hijinks. And there is an interesting plot somewhere in this manga. It’s just that it’s so spread out that I don’t feel like there’s any reward for continuing reading. And given that I had purchased three volumes of the manga, this is where I stop and switch to a series that I actually enjoy. I really wanted to like this series, especially because I loved Aya Shouto’s series He’s My Only Vampire so much. But in the end, this one just isn’t for me.